Practitioners in Finland Expose CCP’s Crimes Against Humanity During Mid-Autumn Festival (Photos)

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners in Rovaniemi, Finland, on September 21, 2013, spent the last day of the Mid-Autumn Festival collecting petition signatures condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) practice of organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a modern celebration of a centuries-old harvest ritual, now associated with moon cakes, shining lanterns, fiery dragons, and more. It’s a time of family reunions, giving thanks, and looking forward to longevity and good fortune.

People sign petition condemning the CCP and its crimes against humanity.

Passersby read practitioners’ informational display boards.

The inclement weather in Rovaniemi did not deter passersby from carefully reading the practitioners’ informational display boards and learning the truth about Falun Gong.

After seeing a large banner and a desk with the words, “SOS” in red letters, a man slowed down his car, then parked across the street from where the practitioners were standing.

The man introduced himself and said that he was a local college professor. He said that he knew a little about Falun Gong, but wanted to learn more. After he signed the petition, he asked where the local practice site was located. He said he was very interested in learning Falun Gong.

A practitioners handed a flier to a woman rushing by. “I don’t have time to read it,” she exclaimed. About 30 minutes later, the woman came back.

“So the flier is about Falun Gong!” she exclaimed. “I know about Falun Gong. I found out about it on TV and read about it in the newspapers. The Communist Party is awfully bad. One of these days it will collapse!” She then signed her name on the petition form. “Well done!” she said as she was leaving. “I wish you success!”

“Repulsive!” said a pensioner, referring to the CCP’s crimes of forced organ harvesting. “It’s a good thing that you’re here,” she told the practitioners as she signed the petition. “I hope that you continue with your signature campaign so that more people can learn the truth.”

The practitioners shared the following two stories with passersby who wanted to know how the persecution has directly affected the Chinese practitioners residing in Finland, or their family members in China.

Under the pretense of the upcoming Olympic Games in China, local authorities illegally raided the home of Chen Zhenping on July 9, 2008. She was arrested, and secretly sentenced to eight years in the Xinxiang City Women’s Prison in Henan Province.

On February 2, 2013, someone from within the prison leaked out news that Ms. Zhenping had suffered a severe mental breakdown as a result of being brutally tortured while in detention.

Ms. Zhenping’s two daughters, Falun Gong practitioners Jin Zhaoyu and Jin Zhaohuan, to this day have not heard any official news about their mother’s condition. In addition, the prison authorities have repeatedly refused requests from her lawyer to visit her.

Finland residents Ms. Zhaoyu, her husband Tommi, and her sister Ms. Zhaohuan, have been appealing to the international community to help rescue their mother, Ms. Zhenping. The local media is also very concerned about the case.

Almost every day, people from around the world write letters and postcards to the Xinxiang City Women’s Prison, demanding Ms. Zhenping’s release.

Shi Wenbo, another Falun Gong practitioner who had been rescued to Finland with help from the United Nations, was forced to separate from his uncle, Shen Quanhui, and his aunt, Li Fengyun. He said that he had not seen his family for over five years.

His aunt and uncle were arrested on September 8, 2008 for distributing Dafa-related materials in Jilin City. Ms. Fengyun managed to escape but was later captured. They both received eight-year sentences in the Jilin Provincial Prison. Ms. Fengyun was later moved to the notorious Changchun Heizuizi Women’s Prison.

It was reported that Mr. Quanhui is being routinely tortured by both guards and inmates. He is physically weak and is now suffering from many serious illnesses.

Ms. Fengyun has been diagnosed with hematuria, due to the physical and mental abuse that she is subjected to in Heizuizi Women’s Prison. Whenever her family visits her, the guards stand close by, greatly restricting her conversions. It is hard to imagine how much mental and physical pain these people have endured in upholding their beliefs.

Mr. Wenbo said that he would expose the CCP’s crimes overseas every day until the persecution ends.

Chinese version available

Category: Other Community Events

Ms. Hu Tongyu Arrested and Subjected to Brainwashing

October 01, 2013 | By a Minghui correspondent in Sichuan Province, China

(Minghui.org) Ms. Hu Tongyu, 61, a resident of Jianwei County, Leshan City, Sichuan Province, was released from a brainwashing center on June 3, 2013. She has been monitored since her release. Wang Maolin, director of the Jianwei County 610 Office, told her that because they confiscated so many different kinds of truth-clarification materials from her home, she should have been sentenced to five to ten years in prison. He threatened her by saying that if they found a flier or a DVD distributed in the town, they would assume it was her and she would be punished.

Her husband was angry, scared, and worried, and became extremely thin.

Ms. Hu, a retired employee from a kindergarten affiliated with the Jianwei County Government, has practiced Falun Dafa since 1996, and benefited greatly. She attended an experience sharing gathering in 2003 with other practitioners, and was arrested while walking on the roadside. The Jianwei County 610 Office held her at a detention center for two weeks.

A practitioner called out her name from the downstairs of her apartment building in 2008, and was reported by the people who monitored her. Officers from the 610 Office threatened her husband. He worked at the Jianwei County HR Bureau. He became fearful, and eventually divorced Ms. Hu (they later remarried).

The county 610 Office blacklisted Ms. Hu, and during the first six months of 2013, officers from the Leshan City 610 Office ordered their agents to send all of the Falun Gong practitioners who were blacklisted to the brainwashing center. By sending the practitioners to the brainwashing center, the officers could close the case because the torture at the brainwashing centers was severe and difficult to endure, and the likelihood of those “giving up” was greater. Officers from the Jianwei County 610 Office, Domestic Security Division, Political and Legal Affairs Committee took Ms. Hu to the Dashiqiao Brainwashing Center in Leshan City on April 24, 2013. She was released when the facility was shut down on June 3, 2013.

Before her arrest, Ms. Hu had prepared a document that disclosed the identity of the agents who threatened her daughter and her husband. After she was taken to the brainwashing center, local practitioners copied the document and distributed the information to expose their crimes. The agents were angry about this and ransacked her home on May 9, 2013. They confiscated her computer, a printer, a DVD burner, materials, paper, Dafa books, and a photo of the founder of Falun Gong. The total value of the property taken was around 30,000 yuan.

Programs that slandered Dafa and the founder of Falun Gong were played every morning at the Dashiqiao Brainwashing Center. This was followed by the so called “help and educate” presentations. In the afternoon, some of the agents tried to “transform” the practitioners using different methods. The agents threatened the practitioners while trying to make them sign the three statements document.

Upon arrival, practitioners were told they would be sentenced to forced labor. They were placed in handcuffs and warned that an inmate could be ordered to beat them to near-death. The practitioners were reminded that if this were 1949, when the CCP had just taken power, even the director of a village had the power to order the death penalty.

The agents took a different approach the second day. They were very kind and attempted to develop close relationships with the practitioners, calling them sisters. Not long after that, the agents showed their evil nature by trying all kinds things to “transform” them. If nothing worked, they said, “From the bottom of my heart, I have tried my best to do you good, so that you would write the three statements.”

The practitioners were monitored around the clock and not allowed to talk to one another. If a practitioner showed lack of resolve, three or four guards would go to talk to him or her. If the practitioner “transformed,” and signed the three statements, officers from the Leshan City 610 Office would double check to make sure the practitioner was truly “transformed.” Only after they gave their approval would the practitioner be released.

Although Ms. Hu has been released, agents monitor her very closely. Her family lives in fear and she has very limited freedom.

Chinese version available

Category: Accounts of Persecution

Ms. Bao Yan and Family Devastated by Persecution

October 01, 2013 | By a Minghui correspondent from Liaoning Province, China

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Bao Yan, 55, is a former employee of the Institute of Drug Control in the Qingyuan County Health Bureau, Fushun City, Liaoning Province. Ms. Bao was forced to become homeless in 2002 to avoid persecution by perpetrators Wang Jing from Sanhuan Community in Qingyuan Town and other followers of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Ms. Bao remained homeless for more than three years, during which time her mother-in-law and husband passed away.

1. One Practices, All Benefit

After her marriage, Ms. Bao lived with her husband and her parents-in-law. The family’s day to day life was organized and run by her mother-in-law, and her husband always obeyed his own mother no matter what the mother asked. Therefore, conflicts constantly occurred between her and her husband, and her and her mother-in-law.

Ms. Bao’s married life was very difficult, and she thought the marriage was on the verge of collapse. She suffered a mental collapse and had persistent insomnia, and became very thin. Although she would eat a big bowl of rice, five eggs, 2 cups of milk, and some vegetables for a meal, she weighed less than 80 lb. She tried a qigong practice to no avail. The medicine she had been given had no impact on her symptoms. While other people can sleep for several days straight after taking a folk prescription, it had no impact on her at all. Physical pain and family conflicts tortured her and made her want to leave the world to avoid these difficulties.

Mentally and physically exhausted, Ms. Bao came across Falun Dafa in 1996. The first time she read the book Zhuan Falun, she felt sleepy, and slept well for the first time in years. She later started reading several pages before going to bed every night, and gradually her symptoms disappeared and she became healthy again. Seeing her recovery many people also started practicing Falun Gong.

Ms. Bao learned many things by studying Zhuan Falun , and stopped hating her mother-in-law’s instigation of her husband, and insults of her. She told her son that she had started to practice Falun Gong, and should treat her mother-in-law well. When her mother-in-law became ill, she asked for a leave from work to take care of her. Her husband told others Ms. Bao treated her mother better than a daughter.

Ms. Bao’s mother-in-law and husband saw her changes after practicing Falun Gong, and the beneficial impact on their family, so they too started to listen to the Nine Day Lectures and did the exercises with her. Her mother-in-law’s heart disease condition improved, and she also could see things more clearly. Her husband’s high blood pressure also improved. It is true that all are benefited from of one person practicing Falun Gong. The entire family supported her Falun Gong practice.

2. Persecuted by the CCP, Family Bereaved

Persecution in Her Work Unit

Jiang Zemin’s group launched the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. Chen Guisheng, the former director of the health bureau, persecuted Falun Gong practitioners Bao Yan and Hao Yingjun in his work unit.

Ms. Bao went to Beijing to petition for an end to the persecution, as was her right, in late 2000, but was arrested and sent to Wujiabao Forced Labor Camp in Fushun and held there for three months.

She returned to her unit in the second half of 2001, but was extorted of another 3,000 yuan by her work unit, and a deposit of 20,000 yuan (5,000 yuan of which was not refunded), lest she not be allowed to come back to work. After she returned to work, she was paid only a 200 yuan stipend every month, which after other fees were deducted, amounted to only 30-60 yuan per month.

When dates approached, and the CCP feared practitioners would go to Beijing to appeal, director Chen Guisheng and secretary Wang Zhongwu would watch over Falun Gong practitioners. They designated employees in the drug control institute to persecute Bao Yan and Hao Yingjun. But employees in her unit all witnessed Ms. Bao’s changes after practicing Falun Gong, and knew it was a good practice with health benefits. They did not want to participate in the persecution, and sometimes they left for vacations to avoid these dates.

After Ms. Bao became homeless in 2002, Wang Shuyan director of the health bureau at the time, and Li Guangchun, chief of the HR department, wanted to dismiss her, but it was not approved by the higher levels. They later gave Ms. Bao’s position to someone else, and she still has no position. Her salary was paid by the Epidemic Prevention Station.

Wang Jing Persecuted Ms. Bao, Forcing Her to be Homeless for Over Three Years

The community office authorities assisted the CCP in watching over people. They gave unemployed people some benefits to coerce them into persecuting Falun Gong, thus making them commit crimes.

For example, one day in August 2002, Ms. Bao went to distribute truth-clarifying materials. Huang Xiaochen’s mother often saw Ms. Bao outside, and then told staff in the community office. Director Jin Yan, Wang Jing, and another person from the Sanhuan Community Office followed Ms. Bao, and arrested her. Wang Jing then called police. Ms. Bao escaped, but had to move from place to place in order to avoid the arrest.

Persecution at Fushun Police Department No.1 Division

Ms. Bao Yan and Ms. Wang Yong from Qingyuan were arrested in November 2003 by officers from the Meihe City State Security Bureau and Shancheng Town Police Station in Meihe City, Jilin Province. Ms. Wang’s arm was broken by police in the initial panic of the arrest.

Director Hao Shifu from the Fushun Police Department No.1 Division, officer Zhang Tao, and others brought Bao Yan and Wang Yong to the Fushun Police Department No.1 Division on the evening of three days later, and handcuffed and shackled them to the sofa overnight. The second day, Wang Yong’s broken arm, which had just been held together, broke apart again because of the movement. The police extorted 25,000 yuan from Wang’s family, and Wang was sent to a hospital by his family.

Ms. Bao was detained in a drug rehabilitation center for a month, and then released after her parents were extorted of 10,000 yuan. Shortly after her release, the police came again to arrest Ms. Bao, and she had to leave her home and become homeless again.

3. Persecution of Her Family Members

Ms. Bao was homeless for over three years. During this time her mother-in-law, husband, and son suffered greatly. Her husband had to work and take care of his mother and son. Her husband did not want to separate from her, but he felt it was nearly impossible for his wife to return home again. Persuaded by others, her husband tried three times to divorce her. The first time, one of his old comrades in arms, who worked as a leader in the court, offered to help him to divorce. They had arranged to go to the court next day and complete the necessary procedures. But on the day just before they planned to go to the court, the friend had a serious car accident and was badly injured.

After a while, he again wanted to pursue the divorce. But on the same day he was going to the court, his mother passed away. His mother had traditional values, and felt that her son should not get divorced.

The third time, Ms. Bao went back home and wanted to spend the new year holidays with her family members. Her husband said directly to her that he did not want to go on like this. Ms. Bao respected her husband’s choice and agreed to (get divorced). Ms. Bao left her home the next day. But her husband passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage two weeks later. It is a family tragedy caused by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong.

Ms. Bao has had to move from place to place to avoid being persecuted, with no income or house. The hardship and agony that she experienced in those three years is beyond description.

Chinese version available

Category: Accounts of Persecution

Australia: Falun Gong a Welcome Fixture at the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers (Photos)

(Minghui.org) On September 21, Falun Gong practitioners from Australia participated in the Grand Central Floral Parade, one of the major events of the week-long 64^th annual Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers. The Central Floral Parade is one of the largest parades in Australia. This year, 92 groups performed, with more than 100 thousand spectators enjoying the festivities. The Falun Gong group consisted of the Divine Land Marching Band, an exercise demonstration team, a dragon dance troupe, Celestial Maidens dancers and a waist drum group. Their performances were warmly welcomed by the spectators along the length of the parade route.

Falun Gong practitioners made a colorful part of the Grand Central Floral Parade

Many Chinese people – tourists, immigrants and students, watched the parade. A number of them took photos and videos of the Falun Gong group, and waved to the practitioners. Some of them even shouted: “Falun Gong is good! Greetings, Falun Gong!” One practitioner said that nowadays many Chinese people have learned the facts about Falun Gong, and they have dramatically changed their attitude toward Falun Gong.

There were seven host stages along the parade route, introducing each group to the public. When the Falun Gong group passed by, the announcer said: “The first time that the Falun Gong group participated in this parade was in 1999. Welcome! Falun Gong is an ancient Chinese cultivation based on the teaching of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and has benefited millions of people. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance – how wonderful the teaching is. We love it! This is what we need, absolutely!”

Chinese version available

Category: Other Community Events